Apple hasn’t coughed up to the existence of the iTablet yet, but that hasn’t stopped one analyst from predicting that the gadget will generate Apple an extra $1bn (£597m/€696m) over 12 months.
Gene Munster, Senior Analyst at US-based investment bank Piper Jaffray, told CNN that Apple stands to sell 2m iTablets during the gadget’ …

iProduct

iProd - the skinny, shiny cattle prod?

Surely, it's pretty obvious that whatever it is, it's not going to be called 'iProd'. It's also not going to be called the iPoke, the iJab, or the iPinch. 'Prod' is short for 'Product' - i.e. it's unnamed, and they've called it Product, with an i because it's apple.

My maths is crap but...

Really?

Come on guys...

OK, enough is enough now. Reporting on rumours is one thing, but reporting on figures that some bloke has made up regarding a product that may not even exist is surely a step too far. There are plenty of Mac rumour sites for that kind of thing. Tsk.

On the other hand, if you'd like to pay me then I'll happily provide you a spreadsheet showing how Apple will make billions next year from a flying laptop powered by bio-fuel and melted down netbook carcasses.

85% margins!

Given the stories recently about Apple stripping most of the value out of PC and Mobile markets without hitting the massive volumes of other manufacturers, I think they must generally aim for huge margins on consumer devices.

As an estimate, if the supposed iPhone 3GS manufacturing cost (iSuppli) of $180 is accurate and it's unsubsidised UK retail price (expansys) of £800+VAT is a typical retail price, then this means there is a potential £680 profit on each unit ($1000+ at a generous 1.5 $:£ ratio, almost $1200 at todays prices).

I'm not sure what this says about apple products other than they are vastly more expensive than other manufacturers sell the same hardware for, but people like them so they still sell. If this is Apple's special sauce enhanced netbook, look for it to cost in a similar range to Sony netbooks rather than Acer.

err

>And if the device is priced at $600 (£358/€417)...

The Archos9, an actual verified product being released in approx two months, 9in tablet form PC with Win7 (which has received half an article on this website compared to how many iPad rumours) is being sold for £450 ish.

If it is going to sell for £358 then it's gonna be a glorified iBook/iPod/iFilm reader/player with colour screen and net access - hmm, pretty much an Archos9 in Apple format. I doubt it'll sell for less than £500.

$1bn???

"an extra $1bn (£597m/€696m) over 12 months"???

I think that is a little aggressive.

A Mac Tablet will be a great thing for the market, but I think this projection is a little high.

Unless the projection came with various applications which the analyst believes Apple will target, or unless it was calculated with Apple's projected manufacturing output with margin estimates - this is a rather odd conclusion.

UK price is a laugh.

Fanbois..yes, real men/techs..no

Real toys don't come in sealed aluminum cases or off white plastic. Nay, real toys come removable cases allowing you to modify for far cheaper than 'upgrading'. And besides tech support is for nancy's that have their finger up their bum and dont understand why right-click is not the same as Apple Command key-click.

And in the poorly remembered words of the BOFH:

Real computers have a hole in the front where you put the trees and a pipe out the back for the black smoke.

85% margins?

@Anonymous coward - Here we go again. The cost of bringing a product to market is more than the cost of the raw materials or components. Salaries, R&D, marketing, taxes, property, distribution, legal, etc, etc, etc. Apple margings are nothing like 85%

@ Joey

"Expensive? Yet again, Apple comes first in tech support"

Hmmm... so your argument is that you'd rather pay a few hundred quid extra in up-front cost when you buy an Apple (for no hardware benefit at all), so that Apple can pay for a top-notch phone line, so that people who don't know how to work their computers can call them up and ask silly questions...

I have owned four PCs over the past 10 years (still have 3 of them). I have called tech support once. In 10 years. Once. Just exactly how good would that one call have to be, to justify the extra hundreds of pounds it would have cost to have bought Macs instead of PCs?

@Chris 19

analysts shmanalysts

i want to get a job as a tech analyst - you get paid to spend all day reading the rumour sites and after a couple of weeks, randomly shove a few of them together, make up some financial figures and issue it as a report

as jobs go, it's gotta be easier than weather forecasting (another profession where you still get paid no matter how wrong you are)

@whiteafrican

I would absolutely pay a few hundred quid extra for something that saves me grief. Life's too short to faff about with crap, especially if you're using a machine all day, every day. I'm a software developer and regularly work on Mac, Windows, and Linux, but I'll always choose to use my MacBook Pro if I have any choice in the matter.

for my next trick

@bex

Unfortunately it won't be the geeks buying this, but the sheeple who get ihypnotised by shiny alumnium and white plastic... so it'll be £500x(gullible fools) Q1 next year with the massive rush for the new tablet, then another £700x(rich gullible fools) for the upgraded version Q4 next year...

As a business model I really can't fault Apple! Snake oil still sells!

It will probably called a hobby like the Apple TV

What will this thing be used for? Apart from tying it in with the Apple TV so you can take your video to bed (or the dunny) with you- a sort-of wireless video player: A ebook thingo: some sound-mixing board that can be carried around: a top-end, colour etch-A-sketch: health monitor like on Star-trek...

I mean I cannot fantom the use for this thing. Like the iPhone is not enough so now people will be staring at this thing. Sure the netbook with its cramped keyboard to surf and maybe post an email or play poker or some music but that's about it. No real bloated programs like AutoCAD or Photoshop. But you'll get these netbook lovers rabbiting on how they managed to get some phat program shoehorned in it: yeah, draw me up a 3 bedroom, wood frame in 3D, ya architect.

Like what @xsquared_uk said, some analyst pulled some figure out his arse on possible vaporware and Apple will make squillions. (I'm in the wrong business.) MS, the most 'populist' computer software company on earth with 90% of the worlds computers, is coming out with W7, MS stores, new Zunes, Natal and spent millions saying so and the interweb's abuzz about 1 product from Apple that has not placed a single ad anywhere that's only a unconfirmed dream and stumps MS out of existence. Apple may have found a niche that no-one has yet seen. Talk is cheap. That's the Midas iTouch.

@bex, @Big Bear

IF this exists and IF it runs full OS X (two big ifs), then it means that I will have a sketchpad that will likely run the copies of Photoshop, Freehand, etc. that I already own (or Inkscape... Gimp... whatever works...) for onsite visits -- sketches, renderings, quick comps for clients...

With a wireless connection so i can send the comp and, if necessary, a price quote to their printer and leave them hard copies, I've got a good basic mobile studio and office setup.

Add color and a screen large enough for middle-aged eyes to read without using a magnifier (wait until you need bifocals or, like myself, TRIfocals before you laugh at that!) and the ads for those Zinio e-magazine subscriptions to keep me entertained on the bus/train to work become more compelling.

The fact that you can't imagine a genuine use for something like this based on your needs/lifestyle really doesn't mean that others might not have genuinely compelling reasons for having it; assuming that anyone MUST want such a thing because they're "sheeple" or "must have all the new gadgets" is just intellectual laziness. I don't drive and I can't imagine 99% of people actively NEEDING a big-ass SUV or loud sportscar but I can imagine that there MIGHT be a reason that some might.

@ Rolf Howarth, @ Mike Moyle

@ Rolf Howarth:

You're a software developer using your machine "all day every day" and you still need to phone tech support on a regular basis, to the tune of hundreds of pounds worth of calls? What on earth are you developing? (or how on earth do you not know how to work your computer?)

What about the thousands of consumers who are smart enough to not need tech support, but aren't going to be developing any software themselves? Is it still worth it for them?

@ Mike Moyle

Not only can people conceive of this, they already have. Years ago. If you want a sketchpad that runs Photoshop/Corel Draw/Whatever, and lets you draw on it with a pressure-sensitive pen (REALLY useful for shading) then can I recommend the HP tc1100? It has a 10in screen, it's cheap, you can ditch the keyboard and use it as a tablet only (saving weight) or re-attach the keyboard if you'd rather type than write (saving time). You didn't specify what wireless you wanted, but it has wifi and bluetooth, and you can attach a 3g dongle to a USB port if you need to. The only real question is how Apple plan to pull off the same thing at a competitive price.